There is a wonderful blog called Not to Us that I have been following the past few months. The author, Lindsay, is a friend of a friend and I give her much credit for valuing the sanctity of human life. You see, when she was 18 weeks pregnant, her water broke. She should have lost her baby, but she didn't. Her fluids shouldn't have regenerated, but they did. Yesterday, at 32 and a half weeks, her OB/GYN did an emergency C-section. Baby Burke is beautiful and miraculous and doing quite well.

Praise God for the little miracle that He brought into this world! Thank God for parents who wanted their baby so much that 13 weeks of bedrest, too many doctors' appointments to count and the struggles of having a husband in grad school and a 3 year old to take care of didn't influence them to terminate an inconvenient pregnancy.

Another reminder to me of how precious all human life is.

You crack me up! I love everything--your chunky legs, sandy blonde hair (who knew it would change so much?), the way you pass your sippy cup from hand to hand as if that is a huge feat in and of itself, your two teeth coming in, blue/brown eyes, and the laughter that fills our home now. You have been so challenging to both Daddy and I. You used to bite Mama and never figure out how to nurse. Now you can't stop nursing, you milk-addict, you. Some would call you a colicky or fussy baby because you have cried so much the first 6 months, but Mama chooses to call you her "high needs" baby like Dr. Sears says. You've made us better parents because you have demanded more from us.

It's hard to believe you are crawling at 6.5 months. The way you stand up and take steps as Mama and Daddy hold your hands just blows my mind. Do you know that you are ahead of the curve? I know it doesn't mean that you will necessarily grow up to be a rocket scientist (although, if you do, can you teach us some cool stuff?) but it is quite a wild ride to be a part of now. Other babies your age still look and act like babies. Sometimes it makes me wish you would stay little longer than you have, but other times I'm just happy to see you become more independent.

There are moments when tears form in my eyes because you make me so happy and proud. There are times when I can't fathom life without you. You are a good and perfect gift from God, just as James 1:17 says. Inevitably, when you wake up for the fifth time at 4 am (which is an every night thing with you these days) I will beg you to go back to sleep and tell you how incredibly tired I am. This will be true, but some day I will miss those 4 am wakings. Some day there will be tears because Mama and Daddy didn't cherish every single moment, even the very rough times. But no matter what you are going through, we will always love you and want you as our son.

With love,
Mama

Today my son has two teeth coming through AND started crawling forward for the first time. What a big day for him! Wow. You make me smile and laugh, Sweet Baby James.

The answer to this question may seem like a no-brainer to you--of course manipulation is wrong you are thinking. But first, let's examine one of the most commonly accepted definitions of manipulation.

ma·nip·u·late

1.	to manage or influence skillfully, esp. in an unfair manner: to manipulate people's feelings.

(Kudos to dictionary.com)

In order to control, influence or discipline a child, parents use manipulation. Here's an example with my own child. At 9 am, James' first naptime of the day, James did not want to go to sleep. So I held him in my arms, whispered to him that he had sleepy eyes and softly ran my finger down his forehead and nose repeatedly until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. In essence, I have brainwashed my child by developing and teaching him cues that influence him to go to sleep. (A lactation consultant I met 4 months ago taught me how to do this.)

While this manipulation is a very useful thing, is it morally right? Admittedly, by definition, it is unfair. Is it necessary? Is it good? Is is bad? What are your thoughts?

Today we went to James' 6 month appointment (even though he's really 6 and a half months). It was Toby's first time meeting our pediatrician and her reaction was "Oh wow! James looks just like you!" As you can imagine, I only get that response from, oh about 99% of the people we meet.

Our little guy has turned blonde, believe it or not, and he is now a whopping 19 lbs 5 oz and 27.5 inches long. He crawls backward, but can't quite figure out how to go forward yet. This past week he pulled himself up to a standing position using the side of our furniture. He doesn't realize that he's too young to be doing that! (And, honestly, I'm not sure just exactly how he manages with all that baby fat.)

We hear a lot of "Da da" around here, but no "Mom mom" yet. *sigh* Sleep is still not high on James' list of priorities either, so Toby and I are learning to function with fewer hours of rest. Other than that, we are doing pretty well. No exciting news to share from our little, orange and blue corner of the world.

Have I mentioned that James already loves the STL Cardinals and the Fighting Illini?

With love,
Joanna

...it really does take a village to raise a child. Now that I'm a mom I'm really starting to understand what that means. My new friend Amber and I have been discussing this a little bit, which has caused me to contemplate the idea even more. When I am around my neighbors and friends whose parents all live in the same towns or 15 minutes away from them, I realize that I am a bit of an outcast since my family is 4 hours away.

For example, when Toby and I get a last minute invite to see a movie we have to either A) say no or B) one of us go see it while the other stays home (which is totally not fun). Most of my friends just call their parents and say "Hey we're going to a movie tonight, are you around to watch my kid(s)?" Or another example is when James is screaming hysterically, my Mom can't just pop over to my house and teach me the right way to comfort him.

While relying on each other and learning to rely on our friends and neighbors can be a very good thing, there is something about having family come up beside you and help you raise your children that is both comforting and important. Perhaps this is why we rely so heavily upon our brothers and sisters in Christ. What a blessing to have surrogate grandparents and parents who check on us every week to make sure we are ok. How amazing it is to have sisters in our church who are walking the same path, trying to raise their children without extended family so that we must stick together and encourage one another.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. If you are one of these people that I mentioned who are part of that village helping us raise our child, I admonish you for your faithfulness and kindness. You're indispensable!

Our Sweet Baby James thinks the 2008 election is hysterical.

Toby says "BUH-ROCK O'BAH-MUH" and James laughs.

Toby says "JOHN MUH-CAIN" and James laughs.

Toby says "AH-PUHL SAUCE" and James cries.

So there you have it folks, vote for Obama or McCain--but not applesauce.

Let's face it--I say some really silly, incorrect things on a daily basis. An uncle of mine will never let me live down the time I told him that an event was happening on the 32nd of the month. (In my defense, I started to say 30th, then tried to switch to the 22nd, and it came out as the 32nd.) I frequently state facts and later realize they were incorrect or exaggerated. Wouldn't it just be so handy to rewind and edit our daily lives, much like we backspace and delete the parts of blog posts that weren't what we meant to say?

To get to the point, I am not voting for Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election because I don't agree with his policies. Or, rather, I agree with his policies even less than I agree with McCain's. (According to VoteMatch, McCain and I agree 43% of the time and Obama and I agree a mere 3% of the time.) Obama is a very smart, well spoken man and it is ridiculous to attack him based on moments in time where he has mispoken or stuttered. Good grief people! Let's talk about the direction our country is headed and how we should go about getting there. Let's talk about character and morals, finances and reform, sanctity of life and the things that matter to us. Please base your voting decision on these things and how you feel about them, not based on empty rhetoric or ability to speak smoothly and perfectly 24/7.

*Note: My DH has gotten me thoroughly interested in politics these days. Hopefully I have not bored all of you by my talks of politicians, policies and ideas. Expect them to continue, because this is all very relevant to our country, culture and lives. Cheers!